The present invention relates to modified amino-plast resins based on melamine or urea and formaldehyde, which are employed for surface coating and which, in addition to the conventional additives, contain, as modifiers, methylolmelamines etherified with monoalcohols containing 1 to 4 carbon atoms.
Aminoplast resins, especially melamine-formaldehyde resins, are particularly distinguished by great hardness, scratch resistance, absence of color, transparency, high gloss and great resistance to hot water and steam and to numerous chemicals. They are therefore used, in combination with fillers or carrier materials, for the production of compression-molding compositions and of decorative laminates. However, without the addition of modifiers they also have certain disadvantages in processing and in final properties, such as low flow during hardening, i.e., during processing, and a tendency to crazing after hardening, resulting from a natural brittleness due to the crosslinking process associated with the hardening.